Tang Wen first took out a piece of prepared cured meat from a small bag and gave a brief introduction.
He then had two basins of water brought in and poured out some frost stone from a large bag, demonstrating the technique of making ice on the spot.
The hall fell into complete silence.
Everyone looked at Tang Wen with awe.
He had truly made a significant contribution, and without any delay!
The Queen, disregarding her status, stepped down from her seat, picked up the ice, and examined it with astonishment.
"By the way, the frost stone can be reused. I've already tested it; it can be used to create an underground ice cellar, where the temperature is as cold as winter!"
After saying this, Tang Wen ordered a brazier and an iron pot to be brought in, using the evaporation method to re-extract the frost stone.
"Blessings upon the camp!"
"This is truly impressive! Commander Tang has indeed made another great contribution!"
"I only knew frost stone as a medicinal ingredient; I never imagined it had such miraculous uses."
The commanders excitedly discussed.
"You keep making great contributions! I really don't know how to reward you!"
General Zhao also excitedly patted Tang Wen on the shoulder.
Tang Wen's gaze shifted, and he pointed at Zhou Bing with a smile: "We did it together."
General Zhao laughed heartily: "Then that's two great contributions."
One contribution turned into two.
No one objected; everyone had survived through disaster years.
They all knew the biggest challenge for the camp's survival was: how to store food for the long term during bountiful years to withstand disaster years!
If there were ice cellars all year round, perhaps future disaster years would no longer threaten the Flame Camp.
Understanding this, how could they not be excited?
Not to mention counting it as two great contributions, even if it were five or eight, no one would be stingy.
Tang Wen looked at General Zhao and hesitated: "What if Old Crow develops a potion to assist Martial Masters in their cultivation?"
"We'll arrange it for you two first!" General Zhao waved his hand with great generosity.
Beside him, General Zhou, who rarely smiled, said: "The Slave Hunter Gang is of no value to us anymore. You can use them as bait to hunt Mutated Beasts. Then, the materials can be used for alchemy, and only half of the meat needs to be handed over!"
Swish!
The commanders looked at Tang Wen with envy.
Mutated Beast Meat was considered a strategic resource.
If the camp went to war with another faction, the Queen and the Generals would need to quickly replenish energy and even recover from injuries.
Ordinary meat could fill you up, but it had no restorative effects.
But Mutated Beast Meat did.
Regular consumption could also enhance physical constitution.
It was a hard currency.
It could be used as bait and for hunting.
Tang Wen's heart trembled as he suddenly recalled the hunting scene he had witnessed last year when he was powerless.
As if sensing his hesitation, General Zhao picked up a stack of papers from the table and tossed them to Tang Wen: "Take a look, the confessions of the Slave Hunter Gang."
Frankly, he felt somewhat resistant to the idea of hanging people up and bleeding them as bait.
But the next moment, he saw the confessions of these people—no!
These beasts!
Wall posters, slaughtering civilians, throwing infants to their deaths, disemboweling pregnant women, making human pigs, forcing bestiality, boiling oil, cannibalism...
Under severe torture, the Slave Hunter Gang knew they wouldn't survive and only sought a quick death, so they confessed to the atrocities they had committed.
Many of the details were horrifying, unbearable to read, sending chills down the spine and making one's scalp tingle!
Could humans really do such things?
In Tang Wen's impression, only certain Japanese could compare to them.
Hell is empty, and the devils are all here.
"Using them as bait, they're getting off easy!"
Tang Wen's initial reluctance vanished completely. He felt that killing them would only dirty his hands!
They deserved to be devoured alive by the Mutated Beasts!
The next day, Tang Wen and Zhou Bing arrived together at the stone cell to retrieve the prisoners.
As the cell door opened, Tang Wen spoke coldly, "Today, we'll take three as bait! Keep an eye on the rest and make sure they don't kill themselves."
His voice was loud, ensuring that everyone in the Slave Hunter Gang heard him clearly, causing them to involuntarily shudder.
As bait?
Just hearing it, they knew it wouldn't end well.
These past few days, they had endured countless tortures.
Now, they only wished for death.
But with Tang Wen's command, even that was denied.
Tang Wen's eyes were icy. He wanted these beasts to taste the torment of waiting for death in fear!
Outside the city, the wind howled, whipping up sand and stones.
Li Mingming, the archer of the hunting squad, spat out sand, "Ugh, Old Wu, wasn't the sandstorm this bad last year?"
"No, it's because it hasn't rained! Why won't it rain?"
Tang Wen, Zhou Bing, and the members of the original hunting squad were on their way to the hunting valley.
They rode on horseback, kicking up clouds of dust behind them. Three bloodied bait were dragged behind the horses, running desperately.
"Cover your mouths and noses with cloth!"
Once they left the camp and entered the wilderness, the sandstorm grew even fiercer.
Tang Wen took the handkerchief Zhou Bing handed him from her pocket and tied it over his face.
He hadn't expected that even in this new world, environmental issues would still be so severe.
Looking up, the sky was vast and endless, without a single cloud.
Beneath the sky, the earth was cracked with deep ravines, dry and barren, covered in gravel of all sizes. Not a trace of green could be seen. Even the most resilient black death grass refused to grow here.
The horses' hooves crunched against the dry ground, making a hissing sound.
"Commander Tang Wen and Commander Zhou Bing have arrived!"
A guard shouted from the simple stone watchtower.
From the stone house, a squad of hunting guards emerged.
"Commanders," the leader of the squad, Captain Liu, greeted them.
Tang Wen and his group dismounted and exchanged pleasantries.
Captain Liu glanced at the three bait and asked curiously, "Commanders, what's the quality of these 'bait'? They look quite strong. We might catch something good."
"What do you mean?" Neither Tang Wen nor Zhou Bing had experience with hunting.
Captain Liu explained, "Commanders, you might not know this, but the 'bait' used for hunting is also graded. If we use ordinary prisoners, even if we bleed ten or eight of them together, they'll only attract low-level Mutated Beasts like Sand Serpents or Blood Ravens. Previously, we caught a Martial Practitioner, and his blood attracted two mid-level Mutated Beasts..."
Mutated Beasts were commonly classified into low, mid, and high levels.
High-level Mutated Beasts were equivalent in strength to Martial Masters.
Mid-level Mutated Beasts were comparable to Martial Practitioners.
Low-level Mutated Beasts were relatively weak, and an ordinary person with a weapon might be able to kill one.
Similarly, the higher the level of the Mutated Beast, the more special energy its flesh and blood contained, which was more beneficial to Martial Practitioners.
"Two first-class Martial Apprentices and one second-class Martial Practitioner."
After Tang Wen finished speaking, Captain Liu's eyes lit up. He pondered, "If we bleed all three together, we're sure to attract many low-level Mutated Beasts. We might even attract mid-level ones. As for high-level Mutated Beasts, they're rare and hard to come by."
Tang Wen and Zhou Bing exchanged glances. "Then we'll follow your suggestion and bleed them all together."
"Great! Great! Commanders, you truly have courage!"
Captain Liu turned and shouted, "Brothers, we've got a big job! Stay sharp, get on the pillars!"
The wheels of the cart creaked as they rolled.
A pillar, ten meters tall, was secured to a square wooden cart and pushed out.
Captain Liu smiled and said, "This is premium bait, so it gets premium treatment."
Ordinary bait wouldn't attract anything worthwhile; it only needed to be hung at the highest point of the stone wall.
But rare Martial Practitioner bait had to be hung high, letting the wind carry the scent of their blood far and wide.
With that, Captain Liu swiftly took a knife and made several cross-shaped cuts on the bait, causing blood to gush out immediately.
Then, seven or eight guards pulled up steel cables and tied them to the ten-meter-high pillar.
Blood trickled down the pillar, first attracting a swarm of flies and mosquitoes.
"Spread out, form groups of three. Archers, stay alert! Everyone, rub wild mint all over yourselves. The stronger the scent, the better."
Hunting had been going on for years.
There was already a set of standard procedures.
Tang Wen and Zhou Bing also retreated behind the stone wall.
Following Captain Liu's lead, they picked up green wild mint and rubbed it all over themselves from head to toe: "Mutated Beasts are cunning; they won't come near if they see too many of us. Their sense of smell is sharp too; too much human scent is a no-go. Oh, and both Commanders, please rein in your killing intent."
Tang Wen chuckled, "Hunting really is a skilled craft."
They both practiced Guarding the One, calming their killing intent and settling their minds.
Being prepared was only half the battle.
The other half depended on luck.
A quarter of an hour passed, and there was still no movement.
Tang Wen didn't want to waste time, so he started practicing his Stance right where he stood.
Captain Liu watched in silent awe: He had long heard that Commander Tang Wen was not only a genius but also a training fanatic who didn't even have time to drink tea. Truly, the rumors were accurate!
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
The first wave of Mutated Beasts had arrived.
They came in flocks, circling in the sky.
A group of avian Mutated Beasts.
Captain Liu took a few glances through the Thousand-Li Mirror: "They're all low-level Mutated Beasts. Pity, they're too agile; our archers' hit rate has always been low. Even if we shoot down a few, the rest will fly away immediately. Otherwise, using their flesh as bait might have lured in some mid-level Mutated Beasts."
Tang Wen opened his eyes: "I can give it a try."
"Oh! Look at me, I forgot! I've long heard that you're exceptionally skilled at throwing stones!"
Throwing stones? Tang Wen's mouth twitched. He exerted force with his feet and leaped onto the several-meter-high city wall, then boldly struck out.
The stones cut through the air with a sharp, ear-piercing whistle.
Thud—one bird was too slow to escape and was shattered.
Thud, thud, thud—many birds were shattered.
Tang Wen hurled ten Flying Stones in succession.
In the sky, a rain of flesh and blood began to fall.
Captain Liu and the other hunting squad members looked up in amazement: "Commander Tang Wen's stone-throwing skills are indeed formidable! Today's a lucky day; these dozens of birds might just attract some high-level Mutated Beasts."
"If there are, great; if not, no big deal."
Tang Wen wasn't too concerned. Just from that brief action, his Flying Stone skill experience had surged.
[Flying Stone, Expert (3799→3815/6000)]
[Flying Stone, Expert (3815→3827/6000)]
[… Expert (3986/6000)]
This place was indeed a good opportunity to grind experience.
The recovery ability of a Martial Practitioner's body was strong, and gradually, the blood on the three baits stopped flowing.
Captain Liu gave a signal, and immediately someone climbed onto the pillar, using a triangular bayonet to bleed them further.
The ground was littered with the flesh and blood of birds and beasts, and the stench of human blood was overwhelming.
The scene resembled the filthiest of slaughterhouses.
As the wind and sand blew past, fragments of flesh and blood scattered in all directions.
The keen-sensed Mutated Beasts quickly caught the scent.
"Gugu," "gaga," "jiji
"—a large flock of avian Mutated Beasts descended.
To Tang Wen's surprise, they flew much higher above the ground than the pr
evious flock of birds.
If he were to throw the Flying Stone now, it would likely be far less effective than before.
Gazing up at the sky, a sudden idea struck Tang Wen.
Could the explosive force of the Cannon Fist also be applied to the Flying Stone?
(End of Chapter)